Expert: Dear Tabbi - 8/14/2008

Question
We adopted 2 very young male grey tabbies and we did what the adoptive team told us what to do. Kept them in a small room,kept them in crate allowed then to be introduced w/other animals slowly. Now all they do is hide, they are very unsociable kittens. They are about months old now. One will visit my fiancee only at night and sleep on his legs. the other will be friendly in am and some time at night rubbing and meowing. They are scared to death of me. ( i am the one who cuts there nails) They love the Dog & ferret. How can i bring them around. Oh i can pet the one sometimes when i am feeding him. Thank you for ur time. Any suggestions is appreciated.KB

Answer
Karen,

They probably were feral kittens, and it is inbred and inherited in them not to trust humans. Cats that are feral or from feral mothers are not like regular domesticated housecats and you cannot expect them to behave in the same way. Feral cats and kittens carry alot of hereditary baggage and distrust. They also take a LONG time to adjust. It takes a LOT of patience with them too. Just let them take things at their own pace. They will get better as he gets more courageous. They also usually bond with only one person, so one might bond to you and the other to your fiance.

Food is the key to taming. The kittens may hesitate to eat in your presence at first, but be patient. Eventually the kittens will associate your presence with food. How soon you begin handling the kitten depends on the kitten's age and temperament. The more often kittens are handled, the more likely they are to socialize. Feral kittens will hiss, growl, and swat. Do not be deterred. Remember to pet from behind the head. Coming at them from the front is threatening and they may strike out. Also do not look them directly in the eye, that is also a threatening gesture to them. Normally they do not like to be petted for any length of time, and though they can be loving, lay next to you, follow you, etc. they usually do NOT like to be held.

Feral kitten age and how long it can take to socialize him:

Kittens under 4 weeks old: can usually be socialized in a matter of hours or days.
Between 4 and 6 weeks old: can take approximately one to two weeks to socialize.
Between 6 and 8 weeks old: may take anywhere from two to four weeks.
Between 8 and 9 weeks old: will usually take from two to four weeks, but usually closer to four weeks.
Kittens over 10 weeks: can also be tamed, but it may take much longer and most times they will be tame to the person working with them, and remain quite wild with strangers.

You can usually determine the general age of a kitten by comparing it to a woman's shoe size: From nose to end of body (not including the tail), a 6 week old kitten will be approximately the same size as a woman's size 6 shoe. A 7 week old kitten approximately the same size size as woman's size 7 shoe, and so on.

That was a nice thing to do to take the kittens home.They are lucky kittys! Hopefully this information will help you. And as you have questions, or need more information, please don't hesitate to write back.

Tabbi